My Man Godfrey
(US) | runtime = 94 min. | language = English | budget = $656,000 (est.) | country = United States | amg_id = 1:34089 | imdb_id = 0028010 }} :This article is about the 1936 film. For the 1957 remake, see My Man Godfrey (1957 film). My Man Godfrey is a screwball comedy film released in 1936 by Universal Pictures, directed by Gregory LaCava. It was adapted from Eric Hatch's novel 1101 Park Avenue by Hatch himself and Morrie Ryskind, with uncredited contributions by LaCava. The story concerns a socialite who hires a derelict to be her family's butler, only to fall in love with him, much to his dismay. The 1936 film starred William Powell and Carole Lombard, supported by Alice Brady, Gail Patrick, Eugene Pallette, Mischa Auer and Alan Mowbray. In 1999, My Man Godfrey was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. A 1957 remake starred June Allyson and David Niven. Synopsis During the Great Depression, Godfrey "Smith" (William Powell) lives alongside other men down on their luck in the city dump. One day, snooty socialite Cornelia Bullock (Gail Patrick) offers him five dollars to be her "forgotten man" for a scavenger hunt. Annoyed, he backs her up until she falls on a pile of ashes. She leaves in a fury, much to the glee of her sister Irene (Carole Lombard). After talking with her, Godfrey finds her to be kind, if a bit scatter-brained. He offers to go with Irene to help her beat Cornelia. In the ballroom of the Waldorf-Ritz Hotel, Irene's long-suffering businessman father, Alexander Bullock (Eugene Pallette), waits resignedly as his ditsy wife, Angelica (Alice Brady), and her mooching "protégé" Carlo (Mischa Auer) play the frivolous game. Godfrey arrives and is "authenticated" by the scavenger hunt judge as a "forgotten man". He then addresses the idle rich, expressing his contempt for their antics. Irene is apologetic and offers him a job as the family butler, which he gratefully accepts. The next morning, Godfrey is shown what to do by the sardonic, wise-cracking maid, Molly (Jean Dixon), the only servant who has been able to put up with the antics of the family. She warns him that he is just the latest in a long line of butlers. Only slightly daunted, he proves to be surprisingly competent, although Cornelia still holds a sizeable grudge. On the other hand, Irene considers Godfrey to be her protégé, and is thrilled by his success. A complication arises when a guest, Tommy Gray (Alan Mowbray), greets Godfrey familiarly as an old friend. Godfrey quickly ad-libs that he was Tommy's valet at school. Tommy plays along, mentioning Godfrey's non-existent wife and five children. Dismayed, Irene impulsively announces her engagement to the surprised Charlie Van Rumple (Grady Sutton), but she soon breaks down in tears and flees after being politely congratulated by Godfrey. Over lunch the next day, Tommy is curious to know what one of the elite "Parkes of Boston" is doing as a servant. Godfrey explains that a broken love affair had left him considering suicide, but the optimistic, undaunted attitude of the men living at the dump rekindled his spirit. Meanwhile, when everything she does to make Godfrey's life miserable fails, Cornelia sneaks into his room and plants her pearl necklace under his mattress. She then calls the police to report her "missing" jewelry. To Cornelia's surprise, the pearls do not turn up, even when she suggests they check Godfrey's bed. Mr. Bullock realizes his daughter has orchestrated the whole thing and sees the policemen out. The Bullocks then send their daughters off to Europe because Irene is getting too attached to Godfrey. When they return, Cornelia insinuates that Godfrey is actually attracted to her, and not Irene. The alarmed Irene stages a fainting spell and falls into his arms. In one of the film's best-known sequences, Godfrey carries the swooning girl to her bed. While searching for smelling salts, he realizes she's faking when he sees her (in a mirror) sit up briefly. In revenge, he puts her in the shower and turns on the cold water full blast. Far from quenching her attraction, this act merely confirms what she had hoped: "Oh Godfrey, now I know you love me...You do or you wouldn't have lost your temper." When confronted by the rest of the family, Godfrey quits. But Mr. Bullock has more pressing concerns. He first has a private "little chat" with Carlo, throwing the freeloader out. He then announces that his business is in dire financial straits, with both a sinking stock price and his own desperate actions weighing on him. Godfrey interrupts, explaining that he understood some time ago that Mr. Bullock's interests were weakening and sold short, using money raised by pawning Cornelia's necklace. He's been making money while Mr. Bullock has been losing, and has endorsed his gains over to Mr. Bullock's name. He then turns over a bundle of stock certificates to the stunned Mr. Bullock. He also returns the necklace to a humbled Cornelia, who apologizes for her attempt to frame him with the pearls. Godfrey says his goodbyes to all but Irene, and takes his leave. With the rest of his stock profits and reluctant business partner Tommy Gray's backing, Godfrey had built a fashionable nightclub at the dump, "...giving food and shelter to fifty people in the winter, and giving them employment in the summer." Irene tracks him down and bulldozes the reluctant Godfrey into marriage, saying: "Stand still, Godfrey, it'll all be over in a minute." Cast , Mischa Auer and Alice Brady in My Man Godfrey]] *William Powell as Godfrey *Carole Lombard as Irene Bullock *Alice Brady as Angelica Bullock *Gail Patrick as Cornelia Bullock *Eugene Pallette as Alexander Bullock *Jean Dixon as Molly *Alan Mowbray as Tommy Gray *Mischa Auer as Carlo *Pat Flaherty as Mike Flaherty *Robert Light as Faithful George *Grady Sutton as Charlie Van Rumple (uncredited) ;Cast notes *Jane Wyman appears, uncredited, as a party guest, and Franklin Pangborn has a small role as the judge for the scavenger hunt, also uncredited. Production My Man Godfrey was in production from 15 April to 27 May , and then had retakes in early June of the year. Its estimated budget was $656,000TCM Overview, IMDB Business Data The studio's original choice to play "Irene", the part eventually played by Carole Lombard, was Constance Bennett, and Miriam Hopkins was also considered, but the director, Gregory LaCava, would only agree to Bennett if Universal borrowed William Powell from MGM. Powell, for his part, would only take the role if Carole Lombard played "Irene". Powell and Lombard had divorced three years earlier.TCM [ http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=5794&category=Notes Notes] LaCava a former animator, and a freelancer for most of his film career, held studio executive in contempt, and was known to be a bit eccentric. When he and Powell hit a snag over a disagreement about how Godfrey should be portrayed, they settled things over a bottle of Scotch. The next morning, LaCava showed up for shooting, with a headache, but Powell didn't appear. Instead, he sent a telegram" "WE MAY HAVE FOUND GODFREY LAST NIGHT BUT WE LOST POWELL. SEE YOU TOMORROW." Morrie Ryskind, who wrote the screenplay, also had some unorthodox working habits. On Godfrey, he improvised dialogue on the set with the leading actors and the director, and would rewrite and reshape scenes on the set.Genevieve McGillicuddy "My Man Godfrey" (TCM article Powell was 45 when the film was made. A stand-in (Chick Collins) was used when Godfrey carried Irene over his shoulder up the stairs to her bedroom. My Man Godfrey premiered on 6 September 1936, and was released in the United States on 17 September.IMDB Release Dates It was a runaway hit and earned huge profits for the studio. When tensions hit a high point on the set, Lombard had a habit of inserting four letter words into her dialogue, often to the great amusement of the cast. This made shooting somewhat difficult, but clips of her cursing in her dialogue and messing up her lines can still be seen in blooper reels. Awards and recognition My Man Godfrey was nominated for six Academy Awards: *Best Actor in a Leading Role - William Powell *Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Mischa Auer *Best Actress in a Leading Role - Carole Lombard *Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Alice Brady *Best Director - Gregory LaCava *Best Writing, Screenplay - Eric Hatch, Morrie Ryskind Godfrey was the first movie to be nominated in all four acting categories, in the first year that supporting categories were introduced. It's also the only film in Oscar history to receive a nomination in all four acting categories and not be nominated for Best Picture, and the only film to be nominated in these six categories and not receive an award. In , the film was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In , the film was ranked #44 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 funniest comedies, and Premiere magazine voted it one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in . Sequels and adaptations My Man Godfrey was adapted for radio and broadcast on Lux Radio Theater on 9 May 1938, with David Niven playing the part of Tommy Gray.IMDB Trivia When the film was remade in , David Niven played Godfrey opposite June Allyson, directed by Henry Koster. TCM's Notes for the 1936 film reports that in 1985 Allan Carr created a Broadway stage production based on the movie, but this is not borne out by a search of the Internet Broadway Database. Video availability My Man Godfrey has fallen into the public domain, and as a result, was re-released by various distributors in several low-quality, but legal DVD and VHS editions. In 2002, a restored print was made available on DVD by The Criterion Collection. In 2005, 20th Century Fox Home Video released a colorized version. Notes External links * * * * * *[http://www.archive.org/details/my_man_godfrey My Man Godfrey at the Internet Archive] *Criterion Collection essay by Diane Jacobs * Category:1936 films Category:1957 films Category:1930s comedy films Category:Screwball comedy films Category:Public domain films Category:United States National Film Registry films Category:Universal Pictures films Category:Film remakes Category:English-language films Category:Films based on fiction books Category:American films Category:Films directed by Gregory La Cava de:Mein Mann Godfrey fr:Mon homme Godfrey it:L'impareggiabile Godfrey (film 1936) nl:My Man Godfrey pt:My Man Godfrey